Mischa Barton's Costars Say She's Ready to Work

After being placed under involuntarily psychiatric hold earlier this month, Mischa Barton is back at work and doing “great,” her costars on The Beautiful Life tell PEOPLE.

“We had our first read-through [Wednesday] and we’re all so very excited to have her back. She’s such a great girl,” costar Sara Paxton said at Model Home Project’s pre-launch celebration for The Power of WE at The Gates in New York on Wednesday.

Costar Ben Hollingsworth admits the cast was just as much in the dark about the specific reason behind Barton’s hospitalization as anyone else. “We were all worried about her. We didn’t really know what was going on, but she’s looking great. She’s feeling great and it’s just good to have her back,” he says. “We start shooting again on Friday and she’s ready to work. We’re all ready to jump into it and are very excited – even Mischa.”

Hollingsworth believes Barton’s new role may help her cope with all that’s been going on in her life.

“She’s gone through it more than anyone in the cast and her character in the show is very intertwined into that lifestyle. I think she’s going to be able to draw on a lot of real-life experiences that she’s had to go through with paparazzi, rumors, and invasion of privacy and all that comes in the public eye,” he says.

As for Hollingsworth’s role on the show: “My character is basically based on Ashton Kutcher (who created the show) and how he experienced life as a model coming to New York from Iowa.”